The present invention relates to games, as well as methods, systems, and computer-program products for promoting educational interests and social development through the use of games.
While the educational and gaming industries often find themselves at odds, competing for the time and attention of the younger generation, it will be appreciated that there are many opportunities for these industries to cooperatively work together in the development of new and exciting educational games. This is particularly true in view of the technological advances that have been made with the computing and communications devices that are heavily leveraged by the educational and gaming industries.
Improvements in technology have also reduced the manufacturing costs to the point that it is now relatively affordable for every household to own one or more computing devices. The affordability of manufacturing new and exciting technology is also readily apparent in the sheer volume of gaming and multimedia consoles that are manufactured solely for entertainment purposes.
While it can certainly be argued that technology has enhanced our educational and entertainment opportunities, it can also be argued that the excessive abundance of new and exciting technologies in the entertainment industry has actually had a negative impact on the educational and social development of our youth. For example, many youth spend more time watching television, surfing the Internet and playing video games than they spend in school, playing outside or working.
This new socio-technological environment that children are now exposed to provides many obstacles and challenges to their learning and social development. Among other things, the ever limited attention span of our youth appears to shrink even more in the presence of the new and exciting movies, games and other entertainment that is continually being presented in increasingly more affordable and convenient ways.
The difficulty for students to maintain the appropriate level of concentration, which is required to learn in this technologically advanced era, is particularly noticeable when the students are required to learn from traditional and, arguably, less stimulating teaching methods.
Technological advances have also had a significant influence on the manner in which we communicate. For example, it is now typical to use computing devices to communicate through email, telephone text-messaging, instant messaging and so forth. However, while computing devices can improve the ease and convenience of communicating, the increased use of computing devices for communication can also have a negative impact on the development of certain social skills. In particular, the increased use of computing devices to communicate can reduce the duration and frequency of face-to-face experiences that are sometimes necessary to develop and learn fundamental social skills. In fact, it is somewhat ironic that while computers have drastically improved the convenience of communicating with distant peoples in remote places, they have also created a crutch and refuge for further isolating the socially challenged people that we live with in our own communities.
The Internet, the television and personal gaming consoles have also reduced the demand for social interaction since many people find electronic entertainment to be a convenient and adequate substitution for social stimulation.
Notwithstanding these increasingly noticeable and grievous side effects of certain technologies, particularly in the entertainment industry, there does not appear to be any immediate end in sight. In fact, to the contrary, all signs appear to indicate that the entertainment industry will continue making new products that feed our insatiable demand for convenient and exciting entertainment.
In view of the foregoing, there is clearly a need to provide new and exciting teaching techniques, as well as opportunities for social interaction, which are capable of competing with the entertainment industry. It would also be desirable to provide new educational tools and techniques that utilize the technological advances that have been developed in the gaming industry and that utilize the technological experiences and skills possessed by children that are exposed to technologically advanced environments and devices.